S: 11,450 yds - 2hr 41min
B: 116.28 mi - 6hr 40min
R: 39.83 mi - 5hr 16min
Total: 14hr 37min
With a name like
Rumpshaker 5k, I couldn’t really turn down this race! The course is mostly flat and super fast, and
with a huge half mary PB back in early March I figured that I was due for
raising the bar in the 5k distance. The
competition at this race always seems to be a little stiff for a local 5k, with
winning times usually in the low 16’s. I
figured I may be good for a top 5 overall or so, and I also joined up with some
friends in the coed team division to try and do some damage there. Race morning was practically perfect! Temperatures were in the mid to upper 50’s
with a slight cool breeze, and the sky was partly cloudy…perfect race
weather. Lori and I did a nice 20 minute
warm up with a couple of strides, and then it was off to the start line. The race played out pretty much how all 5k’s
play out: start out hard and hold on for dear life.
Straight from
the gun we took off and I hopped on the heels of the leaders. Three to four of us got an early gap in the
first minute or so, right before going over a bridge with the only elevation
change on the course. As we hit the
bridge I backed down to a sustainable pace while the 3 others pressed on ahead. By the end of the bridge I had been passed
and was sitting in 6th place with local baller Deanna Newman sitting on
my feet. The goal for the race quickly
turned to “do not get chicked!”. We
rolled through mile 1 in 5:35 and I was hurting but still felt relatively good
(not that you ever feel good in a 5k, but I felt like I could at least possibly
maintain that pace). At the halfway
point I really started to hurt (physically and mentally) but just told myself
that if I could only suck it up for 9 more minutes I’d have a nice new PB. Mile 2 rolled through in 5:49 and I think I
had put a small gap into Deanna, although I wouldn’t let myself look back
because that shows weakness. Mile 3
brought a new sense of determination. We
were on the out-and back portion of the course so seeing other runners was motivating. Coming back over the bridge I just about blew
myself up but fortunately I crested the top before that happened. Mile 3 was a 5:44 and since I was still too
afraid to look back I decided to just try and make myself sprint for the
line. I was really hyperventilating at
this point and remember thinking to myself that I had not breathed that hard in
quite some time. I crossed the line in
17:32 for 6th overall, and ended up not getting chicked…yay! Props to Deanna for a 17:39…not too shabby
for a 42 year old female. And even more
props to Lori, who came in 2nd overall female at 17:52…a monster 40
second PB! Also, our coed team crushed
it for the win with a 5-runner average time of 19:03…boom!
 |
| Spoils from the race! |
What’s even
more awesome about this 5k is that I dropped my PB by 20 seconds and it’s only
March. Aside from some 3 to 4 minute
hard efforts here in there inside a normal 50 minute run, most of my runs have
been easy 7:30 - 8:00 pace. I think I
may have some upside! The only thing I
have been doing of note is running 33 mpw so far in 2013, and 30 mpw for all of
2012. Sure…speed work may be necessary
to run your fastest, but it seems that most underestimate or completely miss
the point that consistent mileage is needed as well!
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